A higher share of couples with children than 95% of compared French towns, at 36%
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The 2023 Census put Wismes’s population at 492, in 200 households. Census figures put flats at 0.8% in the town. 4.9% of households are headed by a manager or professional (typical compared French town: 9.4%).
Throughout this page, the Pas-de-Calais median and the France median are the median of compared communes (those with an overall grade), each figure its own median. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
What stands out about the people of Wismes
A town of families
36% of households are couples with children and 7.4% single parents with children; 15% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
−2% since 2012: slower than 79% of compared French towns
Residents at INSEE’s last three censuses, each recast in the 2026 commune boundaries. France has no yearly estimate by commune between censuses.
2012 to 2023
2017 to 2023
From 2012 to 2017 the change was −3%; from 2017 to 2023, ±0%. Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Pas-de-Calais town −1%.
Older than 79% of compared French towns: half of Wismes is over 49
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Wismes 49. The median compared French town: 44.
Where 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town, Wismes has 24%.
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 108 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Pas-de-Calais 52.0%, France 51.8%.
One-person households make up 21% in Wismes, less than in 99% of compared French towns
A household is everyone who shares a main home (résidence principale). Household types come from INSEE’s fuller sample of a quarter of census forms.
Against the Pas-de-Calais median and the France median
Living alone · share
With single-parent households at 7.4%, Wismes is behind 86% of compared French towns on that count. The comparison figure for one-person households is 35% in the typical compared French town. A household here holds 2.4 people on average.
More empty homes than 81% of compared French towns: 10%
Every home the census counted: main residences, second homes and occasional dwellings (INSEE counts them together), and empty homes. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
All homes · share of homes
Type of home
Cars per household · share of households
On second homes, 1.2% here is much the same as in the typical compared French town. Few places have so few households without a car: 6.7% here, fewer than in 76% of compared French towns. Turnover: 6.9% of households moved in less than two years ago, and 40% have lived in their home 30 years or more.
A median of €24,230 a year per consumption unit
The standard of living (niveau de vie) is a household’s disposable income after taxes and benefits, divided by its consumption units (UC) to allow for its size and make-up: 1 for the first adult, 0.5 for each other person 14 or older, 0.3 for each child under 14.
Medians of compared communes. Source: INSEE, Filosofi 2023.
The midpoint of living standards here is €24,230 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 69% of compared French towns.
Fewer households headed by a retired person than 84% of compared French towns: 25%
Households by the socio-professional group (PCS) of their reference person, INSEE’s own categories. Jobs and commuting are on the Work & commute page.
Households by reference person’s group · share of households
A fifth of households are headed by a manual worker, against 14% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a retired person is 32%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants make up 1.2% in Wismes, less than in 98% of compared French towns
INSEE publishes two measures, which overlap but aren’t the same. Neither is the UK’s “born abroad”.
Share of residents · census 2023
Immigrant (immigré)
Born abroad, not French at birth. Someone stays an immigrant after becoming French. A French citizen born abroad (for example in Algeria before 1962) is not one.
Foreign national (étranger)
Not a French citizen today, wherever born. A child born in France to foreign parents can be a foreign national without being an immigrant.
1% of residents are foreign nationals; in the typical compared French town the figure is 4.3%. By way of comparison, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Above 99% of compared French towns: 55% of residents 15 and over are married
Residents 15 and over by how they live: the census asks both the legal status and whether people live as a couple.
Residents 15 and over · share
25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town, against 20% in Wismes. Married residents make up 43% in the typical compared French town.
Graduates of higher education: 23%, a lower share than 76% of compared French towns
Highest diploma of residents 15 and over who have left education, in French terms: the levels don’t map one-to-one to UK or U.S. ones.
Highest diploma · 15 and over, out of education
21% of adults out of school have no qualification, against 19% in the typical compared French town. Graduates of higher education make up 30% in the typical compared French town.
The 15th oldest of 41 French towns of 492 to 2,582 people
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
No nearby town is as old as Wismes
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wismes | 49 | 24% | 1.2% | 1.2% |
| Lumbres 3,579 · 3.4 mi | 42.9 | 22% | 1% | 0.7% |
| Wizernes 3,321 · 7.5 mi | 44.3 | 20% | 0.6% | 1.2% |
| Saint-Martin-lez-Tatinghem 5,843 · 9 mi | 47.1 | 25% | 1% | 2.7% |
| Blendecques 4,859 · 9.4 mi | 43.7 | 21% | 0.9% | 1.2% |
| Longuenesse 10,548 · 9.4 mi | 43.2 | 22% | 0.6% | 6.8% |
| Saint-Omer 14,382 · 10 mi | 36.7 | 17% | 2.4% | 5.5% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Census 2023. INSEE’s census is a rolling survey: a fifth of small communes each year, 8% of homes in large ones each year. “2023” pools the surveys of 2021 to 2025, so the figures describe the town around 2023, not on one day.
- Medians of compared communes. The comparisons are the median of the département’s compared communes and of France’s (those with an overall grade), each figure its own median: not the total for the département or for France, which large cities pull towards their own figures.
- Immigrants and foreign nationals. INSEE’s two measures: an immigrant was born abroad without French nationality; a foreign national isn’t French today. Neither is a count of people born abroad, which INSEE doesn’t publish by commune.
- Second homes. Homes used for holidays or weekends, with occasional dwellings (kept for work, for example), which INSEE counts together. Their owners are counted where they live, not here.
- Standard of living. INSEE’s Filosofi: disposable income per consumption unit, from tax and benefit files, 2023. The poverty rate is the share of residents below 60% of France’s median. Not published for the smallest communes.
- What France doesn’t ask. The French census asks nothing about ethnicity, religion, language or health, so this page has no such section.
Questions about who lives in Wismes
What is the population of Wismes?
492 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% fewer than in 2012 (504).
How old are Wismes’ residents?
The median age is 49, older than 79% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 24% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Wismes?
3, with occasional dwellings: 1.2% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Wismes?
INSEE counts 6 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.2% of residents, and 5 foreign nationals (1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Wismes?
€24,230 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970). Source: INSEE, Filosofi.
Sources: INSEE, census 2023 (population, ages, households, homes, marital status, diplomas, immigrants, foreign nationals, employment), 2026 geography · INSEE, Filosofi 2023 (standard of living, poverty) · IGN Admin Express (boundaries) · Medians and percentiles: TownRatings, over compared French towns, updated November 9, 2026. Under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab).
Contains public sector information under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab): INSEE, DGFiP, the Interior Ministry’s statistics service (SSMSI), the Ministry of Education (DEPP), the Health Ministry’s statistics service (DREES) and the Housing Ministry (Carte des loyers). Commune boundaries: IGN Admin Express.